In March, Bangladesh celebrated its golden jubilee of gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971. Despite suffering its fair share of political disorder over the last 50 years, Bangladesh has achieved steady economic growth and has made significant social achievements. This article will look back on the past 50 years, highlight Bangladesh’s failures, challenges and achievements...Read More

For the last nine years Bangladesh has been growing steadily with an unbroken run of 6 percent or higher growth rates, reaching as high as 8.2 percent in 2019. With the unparalleled health, social and economic threats raised by the coronavirus pandemic, is the budget for fiscal year (FY2021) fit for purpose to restore economic...Read More

The ferocity of the Coronavirus pandemic has affected the developed and less developed regions of the globe, both urban and rural, and the activities we all take for granted have come to a standstill. This article, however, will focus on the already-discernible impacts and longer-term implications of the pandemic on Bangladesh. The key questions that...Read More

Migrating to the Middle East in search for economic opportunities can sometimes pose a serious risk for the hundreds and thousands of women from Asia seeking employment in private households across the region, but especially in the Gulf States, as domestic workers. Although female migrant workers in general can be vulnerable to abuse and exploitation,...Read More

The large influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh from neighbouring Myanmar in the wake of the August 2017 ‘clearance operation’ conducted by the Myanmar security forces against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine state is only the most recent chapter in the long story of oppression faced by the Rohingya minority. Over the past four decades,...Read More

Bob Savic says China’s offer to mediate between Myanmar and Bangladesh – in order to solve the core issues of the Rohingya refugee crisis – is an extension of its diplomatic Belt and Road Initiative. When Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the “Belt and Road Initiative” in 2013, it seemed to be essentially an economic project, albeit one of...Read More